Music learning devices have been proposed for many years. Note, for example, the U.S. Pat. No. to Ross 2,153,027. In the latter patent a phonograph recording is formed wherein the melody portion of an ensemble is subdued in comparison with the music portion having a primary function of accompaniment. A music student can play along with the music recorded on the record.
Other devices for teaching music have been described in the art such as a note and pitch teaching machine described in the U.S. Pat. No. to Reid 3,710,671 or the student performance recording device described in the U.S. Pat. to Elliott et al No. 3,601,904. Elliott et al discloses an apparatus by which a student is exposed to an audible and visual representation of the music the student is trying to learn. The student's performance is superimposed upon the audible presentation so that he can evaluate his own performance. The instructor may listen to the student's performance and, in turn, add specific individual audible instructions or address a group of students.
In U.S. Pat. to Vauclain No. 3,781,452, a musical score is composed from various prerecorded pitches and notes located on various tape tracks. The various prerecorded musical signals are selectively mixed and combined on a tape track to compose a desired musical score.
An automated rhythm teaching machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. to Reid 3,774,494, utilizing a multiple track tape recorder/player. In a first track of the tape an introductory metronome beat is recorded to condition the student to the proper tempo for background music recorded on the first track. A rhythm pattern is recorded on the second track and corresponds to a printed rhythm exercise. A third track may carry a metronome pattern. A microphone is employed to sense the student's performance and provide pulses representative of his rhythm. Circuitry is provided to compare the student performance with the recorded rhythm and a visual display of the rhythm pattern is provided.
Many tape recording devices for language instruction have been described in the art as may, for example, be observed in the Pat. No. to DeBell et al 3,705,271. In DeBell's patent a teaching machine uses a multiple track tape wherein one track carries a teacher and student response while a second adjacent track carries tone control signals. The latter signals are used to operate the teaching machine and enable it to switch into different operating modes. The DeBell device is particularly useful to record a student response to a teacher question and enable the latter to evaluate the student's pronunciation or provide the ability for the student to listen to his own response. Note other instructional tape recorders as described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Richt 3,587,180 and Kosaka 3,685,171.
Many other patents directed at music teaching schemes have been proposed as may be seen from the U.S. Pat. to Church, No. 2,600,968 for a music sight learning device; Irazoqui 3,026,634 for an audio/visual electronic instructor; Meyer 3,049,959 for an electronic ensemble composer and Milde 3,647,929 for a mechanical music composer using a magnetic tape with a large number of tracks.
Music records are commercially available on which a musical rendition of an ensemble is recorded but with a specific instrument missing. Such records are marketed by The Music Minus One Inc. of New York, N. Y. and are intended for use by an individual who plays the missing instrument along with the phonograph. The student who seeks to follow sheet music while accompanying the phonograph's rendition as it is played back is likely to run into difficulties at some point and then falls out of step with the phonograph.
Since the phonograph inexorably continues to play, it is difficult for the student to catch up. The music-minus-one record is, therefore, of limited value to the beginner student trying to learn a new musical score and tends to frustrate rather than re-enforce the less experienced student. The phonograph further does not enable a recording of the student's performance except by way of a separate recording device. In such case, however, the student's attention is divided between two instruments and reduces his concentration. Hence, in practice, the music-minus-one learning system is, at best, useful to the most skilled musicians who can easily follow the sheet music while simultaneously playing along without error with a high performance ensemble on a phonograph.